DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 4-7 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Group II, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 07/07/2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-3 and 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jiang et al. (US2022032840, previously cited).
Regarding claim 1, Jiang, related to negative electrode materials, discloses a silicon-based negative electrode material, comprising a silicon oxide matrix and carbon atoms, wherein the carbon atoms are uniformly distributed in the silicon oxide matrix at an atomic level(¶[0007]); the carbon atoms are bonded to silicon atoms to form disordered C—Si bonds(¶[0029], see atomic level doping which leads to disordered C-Si bonds) which would necessarily result in an X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) of the silicon-based negative electrode material with a binding peak belonging to the C—Si bond at a location of 283.5±1 eV after a C1s energy spectrum is subjected to peak splitting; and an X-ray diffraction energy spectrum (XRD) has no SiC crystallization peak(¶[0029], see inhibiting breaking of the Si-O bond which is required to form silicon carbide from a silicon oxide starting material).
an average particle size D50 of the silicon-based negative electrode material particles is 0.5 µm-30 μm(¶[0031]), a specific surface area is less than or equal to 10 m2/g(¶[0032]), and a mass of the carbon atoms accounts for 0.5%-10% of a mass of the silicon oxide matrix(¶[0030]).
“Products of identical chemical composition can not have mutually exclusive properties.” A chemical composition and its properties are inseparable. Therefore, if the prior art teaches the identical chemical structure, the properties applicant discloses and/or claims are necessarily present. In re Spada, 911 F.2d 705, 709, 15 USPQ2d 1655, 1658 (Fed. Cir. 1990). MPEP §2112.01.
In the case where the claimed ranges “overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art” a prima facie case of obviousness exists. In re Wertheim, 541 F.2d 257, 191 USPQ 90 (CCPA 1976); In re Woodruff, 919 F.2d 1575, 16 USPQ2d 1934 (Fed. Cir. 1990). MPEP §2144.05.
Regarding claims 2 and 3, Liang discloses a silicon-based negative electrode material according to claim 1 and further discloses a carbon coating layer with a mass content of 0.05% to 10%(¶[0012]).
In the case where the claimed ranges “overlap or lie inside ranges disclosed by the prior art” a prima facie case of obviousness exists. In re Wertheim, 541 F.2d 257, 191 USPQ 90 (CCPA 1976); In re Woodruff, 919 F.2d 1575, 16 USPQ2d 1934 (Fed. Cir. 1990). MPEP §2144.05.
Regarding claims 8 and 9, Liang discloses a silicon-based negative electrode material according to claim 1 and further discloses a lithium ion battery containing an anode plate (¶[0101]-[0106]).
Conclusion
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/K.J.A./Examiner, Art Unit 1726 /RYAN S CANNON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1726
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